1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cabinet having drawers with cover flanges, and, more particularly, to a cabinet having drawers with a cover flange associated with each drawer side and a slide mechanism secured within each channel formed between each drawer side and cover flange so that each slide mechanism is protected.
2. Description of Related Art
The versatility of cabinets and the drawers contained therein are viewed with increased scrutiny, and particularly so in the health care field. Due to the specialized nature of medical supplies, pharmaceutical supplies, and equipment, the storage, transportation, and handling of such goods requires increased care. For example, a hospital or laboratory environment requires a clean, and oftentimes sterile, storage area for at least most of the supplies utilized therein. Because a great potential exists for fluid or other contaminants to be present, drawers and their respective slides are exposed thereto. Accordingly, one problem that exists is that the drawer and its respective slides require periodic cleaning and/or sterilization. Noteover, the ability of a drawer to slide within a cabinet in such an environment may become impaired.
Further, because the health care field now tends to pre-package certain medical supplies for a particular procedure, it has become preferable for a drawer or tray containing such medical supplies to be easily transportable and reusable. This is consistent with the current practice for medical suppliers to maintain various "procedural trays" in the supplier's warehouse and then deliver to the medical facility those trays that are ordered on relatively short notice. Thus, the ease of insertion and removal of such drawers from cabinets for cleaning or replacement with a new procedural tray is of paramount importance. Likewise, it would be very desirable for such drawers or trays to be interchangeable with cabinets at various locations within the facility. Such a system would allow rearrangement of cabinets with drawers of different sizes for the specific needs at a particular location without having to remove countertops and other structures fixed adjacent to such cabinets.
In addition, because there are several cabinet designs, including those having drawers with front panels and those having drawers enclosed by front closing doors, it would be a desirable feature for the drawers and slides thereof to be reversible. This would not only assist the interchangeability of such drawers and slides within a given facility, but also enable them to be slid in and out of pass-through cabinets or carts.